Ariana Santiago

Question #2: How do you see your unique identities intersecting with Open?

I come at Open more from an instructional design perspective, with my background in library instruction and having a master’s degree in applied learning and instruction. I sometimes see that as a unique identity because at least in libraries, I think a lot of people come to Open from scholarly communications and open access publishing. When I first started in my current position, I didn’t know a whole lot about OER and then it seemed like so many OER folks were scholarly communications librarians, which is an area I hadn’t engaged with very much at that point. I felt completely new to everything, but I also appreciate that because I learned so much and I’m always trying to learn more about the scholarly communications side of things.

I like that you said “if at all” because that might be the answer, too. I don’t necessarily see much of my identities intersecting with Open, but not in a way that’s unique to Open. Librarianship and academia in general are very white and not representative of people of color, and that’s reflected in the Open community. For the most part, I don’t see that part of my identity reflected in Open, and that’s part of those bigger issues.